"On your left!" I shouted to Athar, seeing Irun preparing a strike that was likely aimed at his ribs while I blocked Ysevel's blade. "Thanks!" Athar replied with a grunt of exertion as he did his best to deflect Irun's blade, which was coming in rapidly.
Kalia wasn't in this fight, as she was testing our fight dynamics and making her own observations regarding our different skill levels. Over the past four years, this was how we'd been training; learning everyone's strengths and weaknesses to make sure that there was very little that could get in our way, regardless of team composition.
It was very effective, to say the least.
Irun sent Athar soaring through the air to land just behind me and to my right, while Ysevel had already conjured one of her phantoms to try and catch him off-guard. Athar, however, had grown exponentially more efficient with his use of mana during the past few years and countered with a blast of violet lightning that the phantom was entirely unable to block.
I could see the mild frustration on Ysevel's face when she felt her construct disappear and knew that there was little else she could have done against it. "You almost had him," I noted, giving her a flurry of strikes in hopes of pushing her back. Her dancer-like style was still almost impossible for me to counter, so against her, I always had to be on the offensive.
"Almost won't cut it. I need to do better," she said, deflecting every blow I gave her with expert precision and graceful movements.
Try catching him while he's in the air, Ysevel. Thoma, watch your footwork, Kalia sent the pair of us. My footwork? I asked, immediately realizing what she meant as Ysevel swept my feet out from under me with a low, spinning kick. Both she and her phantom were prepared to hit me in mid-air.
However, unlike the last time, I'd found myself in this position with my mother's fist being aimed at my face, I spawned a small, scarlet platform beneath my foot and pushed myself out of the way just in time. Their attacks smacked into the ground, leaving a dust cloud in the air where I had just been, and a small portion of it followed behind me with the displaced air from my dash.
I rolled off my back and got to my feet, but not without feeling the presence of another phantom just behind me. Conjuring a dagger, I split my focus to both attack the phantom and defend against Ysevel's incoming blade.
Impressive, Kalia noted briefly. I could feel her genuine pride seeping through our connection, bringing a small smile to my face. Ysevel, however, had other plans as she spawned in three more phantoms to supplement her own attack. I summoned three more daggers, but there was only so far I could take my own abilities since I was still stuck in the third stage.
Damn it, I thought, seeing the pommel of her kataki blade move as if time itself had been slowed toward the bridge of my nose. Not knowing what else to do, I felt for one of the daggers that had been deflected by the phantom off to my right and reached for it.
I felt a slight tug on my body, but I was too late; her pommel had hit me squarely in the face.
It knocked me flat on my back, my shoulder-length hair dragging on the floor as blood poured from my nose like a fountain. "Fuck, that hurt!" I exclaimed, putting a mana-encased hand to my nose to help staunch the bleeding.
"Sorry!" Ysevel said, dispelling her phantoms and rushing over to me. "Here, let me help," she said, her eyes switching from their glowing scarlet to a vibrant violet as she poured dark mana into the bridge of my nose.
I felt better immediately, though the sting to my pride was still evident, regardless of how I felt physically. "Thanks," I said half-heartedly. "I'm sorry I hit you so hard. I thought you'd pull another trick like you did before, so I didn't think it would connect," she said, helping me to sit upright. "I tried, but it's fine. It's not the first time I've been hit like that, and it sure as shit won't be the last," I said with a chuckle as I pinched the top of my nose.
"What stopped you from moving? I could feel you were trying to get out of there at the last second, but what happened?" she asked, putting a hand on my back. "I'm not sure," I replied honestly. "One moment, I was feeling for the deflected dagger that was over to my right, and the next, I was on my back with a bloody nose," I continued with a shrug. "What do you mean by feeling for it?" she asked curiously.
"I'm not sure how else to explain it, but I felt like there was a sort of path I could take to get to where it was," I replied, unsure whether that explanation would be enough. "He means he was trying to do what I do," Kalia said, rematerializing beside us from the other side of the dome. Ysevel's eyes opened widely when she realized what I meant.
"Y-you were trying to do that?" she asked, not bothering to hide her surprise. "I-I guess I was," I replied, rubbing the back of my neck with embarrassment. Ysevel looked to me and then to Kalia in rapid succession. "No, no, no! That's not fair! Have you been getting special lessons from her while I'm asleep?" she asked, lightly punching me in the shoulder.
"Ow! No, I haven't. I've just been forced to constantly maintain the third stage for so long that it's becoming second nature to me by now," I replied with a chuckle as I rubbed my shoulder. "Oh, that's fair, actually," Ysevel said, immediately reverting back to her normal attitude. "Is it even possible to do that in the third stage?" she asked Kalia, who put a finger on her small chin pensively before answering.
"Theoretically, yes, but I've never seen anyone do it," she replied with a shrug. "Can you teach it to us? I think it would be an amazing skill for us to have," Ysevel asked excitedly, getting a soft chuckle out of Kalia as a result. "I can and will, but only when Thoma has reached the fourth stage, as I would have to train you both the same way," she said, outstretching her hand to help me to my feet to watch the remainder of Athar and Irun's fight.
However, there wasn't much left, as Irun brute-forced his way through one of Athar's spells and knocked him flat on his ass. "Gods, I forget how strong you are sometimes," Athar wheezed as he rolled over, getting a chuckle from the three of us. "Don't feel too bad. I just had something similar happen to me," I called out with a wave.
"Not like this, you haven't. Ugh, I can't feel my left ass cheek. Thanks for that," his alternate voice chimed in, flipping a middle finger up towards Irun. "You're welcome. Next time, try condensing your spell a little more rather than leaving the mana all spread out. It makes it too easy to break through it if you know what you're doing, that is," Irun said with a chuckle as he helped Athar to his feet. "I'll keep that in mind," Athar muttered as he rubbed his backside.
"That was an excellent fight, you four," Kalia noted with her voice distorted by her faceplate once more. "Irun, don't think you can always force your way through a spell, as some are meant to trap you if you try," she chided, prompting Irun to chuckle nervously. "As for the advice he gave you, Athar, he's right. Your spell wasn't condensed enough, but you've made excellent progress so far," she said. "Thank you, my lady," he replied with a bow.
"As for you two, I've already given you my thoughts, though there is something I'd like to discuss," she said, turning to Ysevel and I. "You two have certainly come a long way in terms of your abilities to manipulate Wraith mana, but it's not quite enough yet, as Nexis is far more powerful than any of you realize," she said, shaking her head as she looked away.
"Ysevel, tonight you will help Thoma to break through the fourth stage, and as a reward, I'll teach both of you that movement technique you asked me about earlier," she continued as a wry smile showed out of the corners of her eyes. "Really?" Ysevel asked excitedly with a bright glint in her eyes. "Yes, of course. Have I ever gone against my word?" she asked bluntly.
She's really going to teach it to us, but only if I can break through the fourth stage, I realized, immediately feeling the weight of her words.